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Hi! We're looking to move to the "mountains outside of Asheville" early next year. We want to be within an hours drive to Asheville, and we want 2-5 acres. We prefer cooler temperatures, so high elevations a plus. Looking to spend around 350k. One of us works from home in tech, the other will find a job once we get there. What towns suits us best? What towns should we stay away from? How important is a gated community? Thanks!
What kind of job will you be looking for? Most of the towns surrounding Asheville are small, and don't offer much in the way of employment outside of retail, restaurants, etc.
I'm not sure you're going to find 2-5 acres at a higher elevation within your price range. Otherwise, I think any town would work, you probably need to come visit some of them and see which ones suit you. Of course, 2-5 acres at higher elevation means you're going to be outside of most towns. Waynesville has high mountains surrounding the town, might be a good place to start.
Yeah, your price range may be a little low for what you are looking for. You can look on Realtor.com and get a good feel for price range, amount of land and home size/quality. Most people live in gated communities because they are concerned about the crime rates. The area does have some high property crime rates and if I lived more remotely, I'd want a good security system and a big dog. I live in a town and I have a big dog, but I don't really worry about property crime too much.
You may want to live in a POA or HOA. There is no real zoning in the area and POA/HOA handle the issues zoning would handle in other areas, like size of home, setbacks, and what you can have besides your house, like can you park an RV or have a shed. The dues vary widely. I live in a POA and pay $25 a year, but when we were looking, some HOAs had much higher dues.
Also, you need to consider ISP availability, speed, and reliability.
Other issues with living outside a town:
You'll be on septic. This is usually no problem as long as you have the septic drained and inspected before buying.
You may be on well water. Again, no problem, but it comes with extra maintenance. You'll want to have the well tested for water quality and flow. You'll also want to look at the superfund website to make sure the property is not near any really polluted sites. There are some homes near Asheville that have had their wells contaminated by coal ash from Duke Energy. Don't count on the government to appropriately resolve or prevent pollution problems.
Electricity. We get storms, trees fall, the power goes out. A generator is a good investment.
We also get landslides. Right now they are just re-opening Hwy 9 between Bat Cave and Old Fort. There was a landslide a couple of months ago and it took them a while to clear it. There are geo maps online that show you the landslide risky areas.
As for sexual orientation, I can't really answer that for you. I think it's going to depend on your neighbors. I live near Hendersonville and have a lesbian couple next door to me and no one in my neighborhood cares, but I live in a "mind your own business" subdivision. No one in Asheville itself will care. I think Brevard and Hendersonville are okay, too, but I don't know the towns north of Asheville.
I will be working from home, so definitely need good, reliable internet. My partner has a business degree and can work in hr or as a manager, and she has experience with animal shelters and pet rescues, grant writing, sales, she’s pretty employable.
Great advice on the superfund search, thank you!
I realize we won’t be in a town if we’re up a mountain... just want to make sure that when we go in to the closest town we’re not going to get harassed.
As suggested, hit Realtor.com, and do some perusing...
I was bored, so I plugged in: $300-$350Gs, lot size 1-5 acres, Waynesville, NC as that is the town we live in/live 'above'.
Good points from Svenska_Flicka, though our experience is that 'crime' here is minimal, other than the addicted doing smash and grab.
We have many friends, several of which are same sex, M & F, and none of us 'care'...I have not heard of any of our friends bumping into any blatant, public derision or confrontation. This is Bible country, but it has zero effect on us, and we have friends that range from Evangelicals to those of us that don't follow anything...
I didn't study the ~20 some listings in the filters I used on R.com, but none of those houses are 'remote'.
We live at 4,800 ft on a mtn ridge 'above' Waynesville, and the thriving, funky downtown is 15 mins to parking. Local Ingles is 12 mins, bigger Ingles and new Publix are 15+ mins.
Local hospital is 20 mins, 'Asheville' is 35 to 45 mins depending on time of day/'where' in Asheville.
AVL airport is 45 mins to parking...
Not pumping Waynesville, as we have gotten a bit 'crowded' and popular during the 17+ yrs we have lived here, but this and several other towns and town areas in western NC might meet your needs.
Do some cruising on R.com and Zillow, and make some trips to check out the towns and areas.
if you have more questions on Waynesville, and are not just tire kicking, I will be glad to offer my opins, ideas, et al here on via DM.
My 50Cts.
GL, mD
Our amazing view from our Mtn home deck...a front coming through at sunrise a couple weeks ago.
Thanks mD! Wanesville looks like exactly the kind of town we want to be near. I've found plenty of houses that would suit us too
Susie
I live in Candler, am retired and love looking at places. Gives me a reason to get my motorcycle out. If you need anything checked out let me know. I'll be happy to ride over, take some pics and tell you what the neighborhood is like.
I'm just outside Asheville so no one here cares if you are gay. Waynesville is probably fine too as would any town within about 1 hour, I would think. Beyond that I couldn't say. People in this area come from all over and are pretty much live and let live types.
I would recommend the Burnsville/Spruce Pine area which sits about 45 minutes to an hour from Asheville. The altitude ranges anywhere from 2500 feet on up to over 3000 feet. Both have nice little downtown areas with plenty of shopping/restaurant options and the area has a significant population of artists (thanks largely to the nearby Penland School) who maintain a progressive feel to the area not seen in some neighboring high altitude locations.
If my needs were internet based, my first call would be to area providers, to narrow down my search for a serviced area.
I'm around 35min from AVL, high on a mountain top, I use satellite for TV and internet, works for me, maybe not for others.
AVL is possibly where the most job opportunities are,
commute from distant towns may be a nightmare in Winter, last Winter, I believe first major snowfall was 10"
in my area, secondary roads are last to be addressed.
Last edited by bgrasser; 10-03-2018 at 04:03 PM..
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Hety
